Breakdown of Han har haft en lång karriär, men sa upp sig förra veckan.
han
he
en
a, an (common)
ha
to have
men
but
lång
long / tall
förra veckan
last week
karriären
the career
säga upp sig
to resign
Questions & Answers about Han har haft en lång karriär, men sa upp sig förra veckan.
Why do we mix the present perfect (har haft) and simple past (sa) in the same sentence?
The first half describes a life experience leading up to the present, so we use the present perfect har haft (has had). The second half describes an event tied to a specific, finished time in the past (förra veckan), so we must switch to the simple past sa (said).
Where does the phrase sa upp sig come from?
It is the past tense of the reflexive verb säga upp sig, which means to resign or quit one's job. sa is the irregular past tense of säga (to say).
Why is the word for week in the definite form (veckan) after förra?
In Swedish, the word förra (last or previous) triggers the definite form of the noun that follows it. That is why it is förra veckan (literally: previous the week) and never förra vecka.
Is sa the only way to write the past tense of säga?
You might also see it written as sade, which is the older, formal spelling. However, sa matches how it is actually pronounced and is perfectly standard in almost all modern writing.
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